I wake up wondering if we’re still in Chongqing (5:00 am).  I don’t feel any movement at all.  I open the window and it’s pitch black.  We’re definitely down the river.  I start checking our telephone signal, and we still have 3G, so there must be civilization nearby.  I eventually head to the shower to get ready for the day.  I’m not missing the “Early Bird Coffee” at 6:30.  “Early Bird Coffee” is not a big tradition, apparently, as I’m the only one in the room, besides the attendant.  Everyone else must have stayed up late and waited for the boat to leave the city.

Back in the room, Judy is finishing getting ready, and I’m out on the balcony, seeing what a river cruise is all about.  As we pass a town, you can see a small crowd on the far bank, and then I noticed a bunch of people swimming, way out in the river.  They’re almost out where we are.  I don’t know if this is a special occasion, or just their usual Wednesday morning swim.

Breakfast is good, albeit a little different.  There are some fish dishes I’m not used to seeing on a breakfast buffet.  But there’s also fried eggs, toast, and cereal, so I’m not going to starve.  We’re seated with the only other foreign family on board (out of 420, total).  They’re German, but living in Beijing.  The husband works for Audi, and met and married his Chinese wife in Shanghai in 1995.  Audi lets him live in China for 5 years at a time, and then he must go back to Germany for 4 years.  He is then allowed to come back to China if he wants.  This is his third time back and he has a son and daughter.  His kids attend the German Embassy School, not far from UHN.  His kids speak Mandarin, German, and some English.  His wife is very good at all three languages.

We return to the room for final preparations and then downstairs to meet our excursion group.  We’re paired with the German family, along with several Chinese families.  There are a total of 16 people.  Our guide has to do all her narration in Chinese, followed by English.  It adds some length to the tour, but we usually need the rest.

We’re visiting the “Ghost City of Fengdu”.  It’s a temple, very high up on a hill (very very high), overlooking the river.  They keep telling us it’s 500 steps to the top.  That doesn’t include some steep ramps as well.  There are several temples as we work our way up to the home of the “King of the Underground”.  The main temple at the top honors the guy in charge of deciding where individuals spend eternity after death (in the “good” place or the “bad” place).  There are several tests we’ve taken during the climb to determine if we’re good or bad.  For those of you wondering, Judy and I both passed the tests for the “good” (although I thought Judy was a little iffy on the last one).  We’re relieved to have “passed”, but mostly relieved we don’t have to climb any more steps.

Mooring for our visit to the “Ghost City”

The beginning of the climb (500 steps) to the Ghost City. It looks so restful at the entrance area.

The weather has been great today.  The crowds on the tour were brutal.  It’s a holiday, and this is “high” season for the cruises because of the weather.  That makes for clogged gate entrances, and lots of tour guides on amplified systems.  In spite of all of it, the temples are impressive, and the view is inspiring.  It’s so foggy today our pictures won’t begin to tell the story.

We get back to the cabin, and take a quick nap before lunch.  After lunch it’s back to the room for rest and relaxation out on our balcony.  As the boat travels downriver, there are so many contrasts.  The river is gorgeous and the surrounding valleys are as well.  The architecture is so drab.  Since the government owns everything, all the buildings along the river are square and painted gray or white.  There are no picturesque cleverly designed river properties.  Everything is the same.  If this were in the US, I can’t imagine the property values of some of these places.  It’ll be interesting what happens if the government ever turns loose and lets the economy take off.

We finish up the day with a meal, some deck sitting (very relaxing), and ultimately, bedtime.  All the cable television channels are Chinese, so we’re catching up on West Wing off my computer.  Thanks Courtney for getting that organized for us.  We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.